These days, Ray Barr said he finds absolutely no peace of mind in his normally peaceful rural South Valley neighborhood off Second Street and Clark Road.

He's worried because of a drain that's managed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. The drain is meant to move water along. Instead, Barr insists the water is standing, the vegetation is wild and the mosquitoes are out of control.

Barr said the MRGCD is doing absolutely nothing to reel in the threat of West Nile virus.

"My wife's on an immune altering drug. If she was to get bitten by a West Nile-bearing mosquito, it could be the end of her life," Barr said.

Neighbor Cheryl Barker is worried too.

"Because I don't want that," she said. "I can inoculate my horses, but they don't have anything for people."

With the entire South Valley right now considered to be "West Nile virus positive," even the city environmental health department said the situation concerns them too.

Target 7 brought those concerns to Tom Thorpe of the MRGCD.

"By the nature of where these folks live, they probably are at a bigger risk for mosquitoes than some places," Thorpe said.

But even Thorpe admits, these conditions are not ideal. They haven't been out to mow since June, and aren't sure when they'll mow next, with 1,200 miles worth of drains and ditches to maintain.

"It's kind of an ongoing thing," he says. "We'll do the best we can, I'll point out this area to our guys and see if they can come clean it up."

To Barr, that's not good enough. He said as long as water stands, weeds will grow and mosquitoes, possibly carrying that dangerous virus, will lurk.

The MRGCD said the water is draining, albeit slowly, but they cannot pump water out of the drain because it's supposed to be in there.